Panel suggests 100% foodgrain packaging in jute bags
Kolkata, June 23 : The Standing Advisory Committee (SAC) has recommended that 100 per cent of foodgrain produced should be packaged in jute for the current year, allowing a dilution of up to 10 per cent at a time and 30 per cent in the year, if jute mills fail to supply the bags within the permissible 30 days, an official said on Saturday.
In its 26th meeting, the committee, which recommends jute packaging norms to the government, also suggested 20 per cent of sugar productions should be reserved for packing in jute bags.
Considering that jute is a biodegradable and eco-friendly fibre, the jute industry requires "sustenance till it diversifies and captures the domestic and global market on its own steam," the committee noted.
"In the recent SAC meeting, it recommended that 100 per cent of the foodgrains produced should be reserved for packing in jute. On receiving the entire requirement from procurement agencies for packaging of foodgrains in jute bags, if jute mills fail to supply bags within the permissible 30 days, the Department of Food and Public Distribution may allow dilution of packaging material upto 10 per cent at a time and upto 30 per cent in the whole year with the approval of Ministry of Textiles, the official said referring minutes of the meeting.
The SAC also recommended if the procurement agencies do not place indents as per the supply plan prepared by the Department of Food Public Distribution and if bunching of demand (indents) takes place, the procuring agency will not be entitled for dilution.
"The jute mills will get reasonable additional time for the supply of additional jute bags. However, if the mill fails to supply the bags in the extended period the provision of dilution will apply," the official said.
Nearly 3.7 lakhs workers and 40 lakhs farmers are dependent on the jute sector for their livelihood and based on the last four years' trends, as well as the targeted requirement to pack the quantity of food grains to be procured under the Food Procurement Programmea the demand is likely to be in the range of 28-30 lakhs bales during 2018-19, the official said.
The industry had demonstrated its capacity of producing 2.5 lakh bales of sacking per month for packing food grains.
Further, in terms of the projections of the Jute Advisory Board, 72 lakhs bales of raw jute are likely to be produced during the Jute Year (July-June) 2018-19.
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Jhansi fire: Nurse's heroic efforts helped save over dozen babies
Lucknow/Jhansi (UP), Nov 17: Nurse Megha James was on duty when the fire broke out at the Jhansi hospital and she threw herself headlong into the rescue efforts, playing a hero's role by saving several babies.
Even when her salwar got burned, she refused to give up and was able to evacuate 14-15 babies with others' help.
"I had gone to take a syringe to give an injection to a child. When I came back, I saw that the (oxygen) concentrator had caught fire. I called the ward boy, who came with the fire extinguisher and tried to put it out. But by then, the fire had spread," James said.
Ten babies perished in a fire that broke out at the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit of the Maharani Laxmi Bai Medical College in Jhansi Friday night.
Faced with an enormous blaze, James's mind worked with a frenetic speed, to the extent she cared little about burning herself.
"My chappal caught fire and I burned my foot. Then my salwar caught fire. I removed my salwar and discarded it. At that time, my mind was virtually not working," she told PTI Videos.
James just wore another salwar and went back to the rescue operation.
"There was a lot of smoke, and once the lights went out, we could not see anything. The entire staff brought out at least 14-15 children. There were 11 beds in the ward with 23-24 babies," she said.
Had the lights not gone out they could have saved more children, James said. "It all happened very suddenly. None of us had expected it."
Assistant Nursing Superintendent Nalini Sood praised James's valour and recounted bits from how the rescue operation was carried out.
"The hospital staff broke the glasses of the NICU ward to evacuate the babies. It was then Nurse Megha's salwar caught fire. Instead of caring for her safety, she stayed there to rescue the babies and handed them over to people outside," she said.
Sood said James is currently undergoing treatment at the same medical college. She said she did not know the extent of her burns.
"The rescued babies were shifted to a ward very close to the NICU ward… When I recall the scene, I feel like crying," she said.
Dr Anshul Jain, the head of the anaesthesiology department at the medical college, explained the standard rescue operation and claimed the hospital followed the protocol to the T.
"In the triage process during an ICU evacuation, the policy is to evacuate less-affected patients first. The rationale behind this approach is that patients requiring minimal support can be relocated quickly, enabling a larger number of evacuations to be completed in a shorter time.
"In contrast, patients on ventilators or requiring high oxygen support demand more time and resources for evacuation," he said.
"This principle was successfully implemented in Jhansi, playing a significant role in saving many lives," Jain said.
A newborn rescued from the fire died due to illness on Sunday, Jhansi District Magistrate Avinash Kumar said.
